Apple Drops NDA for App Store Developers

Relenting to pressure from the developer community, Apple has dropped the NDAs that developers were required to agree to when they submitted their applications for consideration on the iPhone App Store.

The previous version of the NDA required that a developer not discuss the reasons that its app may have been declined, and restricted developers from publicly rebutting Apple's refusal or dissecting the denial notification that Apple sent them. The revised NDA allows developers to publicly comment on the reasons their app was accepted or declined, and it allows developers to state that they've submitted an app for consideration--but unreleased software currently under review is still covered by the NDA, and Apple has asked developers not to comment on applications currently being considered for the App Store.

The original NDA requirement that developers not discuss unreleased, denied, or released applications on the App Store caused a furor on the Web, where iPhone developers raged against Apple's walled-garden approach to iPhone application development, and began to question whether or not it was worth the hassle and risk that their app may be rejected. To compound matters, Google's App Market, designed to host applications to run on Google's Android mobile platform, was released to rave reviews from some developers, who praised Google's open attitude toward development.

Even so, Apple's reversal likely has at least a little to do with the open-garden philosophy of Google's App Market and more to do with Apple's desire to keep the rush of iPhone apps coming. The last thing Apple needs is to alienate developers who are churning out the apps that are helping make the iPhone so profitable.